Smyrna times., 1887-09-07
A HARD PART TO PLAY.

CstAe W Ine Stage as young ducks take to
the water and the strangest part of it is
That we are none of us geniuses. And
yet we get on. My three brothers are at
the present time starring either in the
provinces or in America; my two elder
sisters, having strutted and fretted their
hour upon the stage, are married to re-
spectacle city men; /, Sybil Gascoigne.
have acted almost rs long as l can remem-
/ Der; the little ones, Kate and Dick. are
! still at school, but when they leave the
first thing they do will be to look out for
/ an engagement. / don't think we arc anv
OF us tery much i'll love with the profes-
sion; but then why should we be? 1t
seems to me very hard that an actor is
always supposed to be at high pressure;
Elevate the stage" ''cultivate the
masses, :" educate the popular taste''-
Chese are the sentiments which are sun
posed to be always in the actors breast.
Ihese are the sentences which are forever
III peoples mouths. Now can't IMAGINE
why an actor more than any one else
should be constantly Oh stills. / have
seen celebrated musician enioyinr n
game OF poker, and have heard him de-
clare that poker was far preferable to
music. | have seen n great painter talk
ing to city man about stocks and sbarpq
during learned disiuisition upon art.
and no one seemed scaudalized. But with
an actor it is different Unless lie is per
petually aspiring it will not be forgiven
him that he is an actor.
Now, we GascOignes took things easily.
Ot course there were some parts we liked
better than others, but we played every
thing that came i'll our way-comedy.
farce, melodrama. My elder sisters Quit
ted the stage before they had much time
to distinguish themselves. They wore
each i'll turn, on their marriage. hororcd
with paragraph in thc principal dramatic
papers, but no one said the stage had sus-
tained an irreparable loss, or the profess
sion was robbed of one Of its brightest or
namcnts.
l was following very much in my sis
ters footsteps. The critics always spoke
Wen or me. never got q stating in my
life; but then before the criticism was in
print could almost have repeated word
FOR word the phrases that would Le used:
''Miss Gascoignc was painstaking and in
telligent rs usual. " "The part was safe
in the hands of that promising youpes sc-
trcss, Sybu Gascoignc." With opinions
such rs these ! was we'll content. NV
salary was regularly paid; I could always
reckon on good engagement, and even if
my profession failed me there was Jack
to fall back upon. And Jack was sub
sfantial enough to fall back upon, with
no risk Of hurting ones self. He was six
feet two, with broad square shoulders;
ana hrms-well, when Jacks arms were
round yoH. you felt as if you didn't want
anything else in the world. At least that 5
&Ow felt and I've heard lots of girls say
just the same. Jack ought to have been
IN the Life Guards, and he would have
been, only wealthy uncle offered to do
something for him, and of course such an
Oiter was not to be refused; and the
something" turned out to be that
Jack was to go as clerk into the uncle's
business, with u view to partnership. as
the advertisements say. Now, the bust
ness was not pretty nor romantic one
1T had something to do with leather
but it was extremely profitable, and as |
looked forward to one day sharing all
jacks worldly goods l didn't grumble at
the leather Not that Jack had ever yet
said word to me which I could cCnsirue
into downright offer. He had looked.
certainly. But then with eyes like his
there's no knowing what they may imply
They were dark blue eyes, and his hair
was bright brown with n touch of yellow
in it, and his mustache was tawny and
his skin was suhburnt to healthy red.
We had been introduced in quite the or
thodOx way. We hadn't fallen in love
across the fOOtlights. He seldom came
TO see me act, but sometimes he'd drop in
TO supper, perhaps on his way from Il din
ner or TO n dance; and if l could make
him stay with us until it was too late to
go to that dance, what happy girl l
4 used to be! My mother, with the circum-
spectiOn that belongs to mothers, told me
that he was only flirting, and that I'd bet
ter turn my attention to somebody else.
Somebody elsel As If any one were worth
even looking at after Jack Curtis. I
pitied every girl who was engaged because
she wasn't engaged to him. How could
my sisters be happy? Resigned, content
they might be; but to be married and done
for, and afterward to meet Jack-well.
imagination failed me to depict the awful
ness of such u calamity
1t was quite time he spoke-there could
be no doubt Of that; although Jack Cur
lis Tas too charming to be bound by the
rnles which govern ordinary mOrtals, still
could not help feeling uneasy and apprc-
hensive- How could l tell how he carried
on at those gay and festive scenes in which
] was not includedS A proud earl's lovely
daughter might be yearning to bestow her
hand upon him. A duchess might have
marked him for her own. Possibly my
jealous fears exaggerated the Importance
of the society in which he moved. but il
sesmed to me that if Jack had been bid
den to n friendly dinner at Buckingham
palace, it was only what his transcendent
qualities merited.
Well, there came night when we ex-
pected Jack to supper, and he appeared
not. Only, in his place, n few lines to
| say that he was going to start ut once for
his holiday. A friend had just invited
him TO join him on his yacht. He added
in Il postscript, II will write later" He
did not write. Hours, days, weeks passed,
and not o word did we hear.
cts q break Off" said my mother,
consOlingly. "lIe'd got tired Of us all
and he thought this the easiest way Of let
ting uJ know. / told you there was an
understanding between him and Isabel
! Chisholm; any one could see that with
half an eye"
turned away shuddering.
'"Terrible gales" said my father, rust
/ ling the newspaper, comfortably in his
easy chair. "GTeat disasters among the
| shipping ! shouldn't wonder if the
yacht young What's-his-name went in
were TO come to grief"
/ grew pale and thin and dispirited.
4 knew the ladies Of our company made re-
marks about me- One day overheard
/ two Of them talking.
''She never was much Of an actress
and now she merely walks through hel
part. They never had any feeling for art
not one Of those Gaseoigne girls"
No feeling for artl What low, mean,
spiteful. wicked thing to say. And the
worst Of It was that it was so true. re.
solved at once that would do something
desperate. The last piece brought out at our
theatre had been frost. 1t had dragged
along until the advertisements were able
to announce Fifteenth night Of the great
realistic drama" And various scath-
! ing paragraphs from the papers were
pruned and weeded till they seemed un
stinted praise Thus; cit was not the
fault Of the management that the new
play was so far from being n triumphant
success" was cut down to one modest
sentence, ga triumphant success. "A
few enthusiastic cheers from partial
friends alone broke tho ominous silence
when the curtain FELL" became briefly
Enthusiastic cheers A"
But nobody was deceived. One weei
the public were informed they could bool
their seats month In advance; the mex
that the successful drama had TO be with
drawn at the height Of its popularity ow
ing to other arrangements. What the
other arrangements were to be our man
ager was at his wits end to decide